Chronicles of an Acolyte
by FireWorx
Summary: Just as it says.. a fourteen year old, laidback novice named Rumi doesn't care at all about choosing her path. But all this changes when she meets an unpredictable assassin. Fifth Chapter up, AT LAST.
1. Default Chapter

Ahaha.. ^__^;; I love Ragna!! Here, I'm going to try to make this a long ragnarok fic, and the star is a fourteen year old girl who is currently a novice, dreaming to become an acolyte. ^^ Please tell me what you think!

With my usual weird humor and mushiness. Lmao.

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_**Chronicles of an Acolyte**_

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_Hi... my name is Rumiko Izumi. But most people just call me Rumi-chan.. What you're reading right now are my thoughts. And I promise to put everything I can in here. All the thoughts I have, and I promise not to lie about anything. .....I'll try._

_Anyway, I have long brown hair which is most of the time tied... French-braid style. I have deep brown eyes, and I'm quite short for my age. In other words, I'm an exact duplicate of my mother. I just turned fourteen today, and so... There's a tradition in this family that once you turn fourteen, you're supposed to pick your path as a person living in Midgard. A job as an acolyte, mage, swordie, merchant, archer or a thief._

_I might try out as an acolyte.. it seems pretty cool, being able to heal people, and I would love to help, but I often see lots of people taking advantages of acolytes._

_Or a mage...! But they have really skimpy clothes, and they can only afford to attack from a long range. I saw in books they're quite pathetic sometimes in place where there are a lot of aggressive creatures._

_Swordies are nice.. but they're too common. Besides, I tried carrying a sword once, and it was soo heavy... Argh!_

_Merchants are cool too... but I have to go all the way to Alberta and pay. Also... their clothes are funny. But that's just my opinion. I see a lot in the town square, and they move so slow, with the cart and all!_

_Archers.. I might just try to be one! The idea of shooting arrows are just too cool... but it's really difficult, because when I traveled all the way to Payon once, the natives all had a weird accent and I had a hard time communicating.._

_And a thief? No way. Mother absolutely hates them. I do too. Dad was a thief... that's how he supported me as a kid, by stealing, then one day... he was promoted to an assassin, and ever since, I haven't seen him. Thieves can be so rude at times, too. I've never actually seen an assassin.. I hear they're supposed to work in shadows, and seeing one can cost you your life._

_So what should it be...? I live in a small house in Izlude, and mom's already kicking me out of the house... aaah! I can't come back until I find my "path"! ...she already gave me 500 zeny. Hehehe.. that's the good part._

Rumi-chan ran out of the house, her mom screaming after her. She was giggling like mad, and she brushed of the dust from her shorts. It was time to look for her "path"... if she couldn't decide, she could always sleep over next door or sleep in an inn.

"What should I do first...?" Rumi wondered, her eyebrows arching in frustration. She was in the middle of her thoughts when she heard a loud crash from the dark alley next to her house. Her first thought was to run away, but curiosity got the better of her, and she slowly approached the said alley.

"Anyone here..?" She whispered into the air, peeking to the dark place. She couldn't see anything, but there was a queer, unknown aura that made her nervous.

She saw and heard a dark shadow moving around, and she opened her mouth to scream... this fourteen year old girl was a coward, and a weak one at that. A large glove hand clamped over her mouth and the other one pinned her against the wall. The impact of it making her both frightened and hurt.

"Kid..." A voice said. It was a man's voice, and quite soft. "Sorry... but I can't let you give my place away."

Rumi nodded, frightened.

The guy sighed and let go off her, plopping down on the floor. "I think I can trust you... see you, kid."

"Uh... are you hurt...?" Rumi inquired. She was shaking, but she could see in the dim of the light that this man's neck was roughly bandaged, and some blood was searing through.

He chuckled and massaged his injured neck. "This is nothing." 

Rumi shook her head. "You should see a doctor, sir..."

"Doctors don't talk to people like me." He replied with a sigh. "I'm alright. I'm just waiting for someone here."

"Okay..." Rumi replied. "I'll... see you then. Take care, sir."

"Sure. What's your name, by the way?"

"R-Rumi, sir..."

"Okay." He replied, chuckling again. "Take care, and quit calling me sir." 

"Hai. What's your name, then...?"

"I can't tell you." He said, smiling at her. His smile was visible through the small rays of afternoon sunlight which somehow found it's way to the dark alley.

Rumi giggled and ran away. When she was on a safe distance, she brushed away some stray hair from her eyes. That was a frightening experience. She was absolutely sure that guy was an assassin... who else would hide in a place in that manner? 

_I should probably just train..._ She thought to herself, running out the exit of Izlude to batlle a couple of Porings. By the exit was a familiar figure of a girl her age, leaning against a pillar and munching on an apple.

"Oi!" The girl called out, waving. Her short golden hair flaring in the sunlight.

"Mint...!" Rumi exclaimed as she stopped in front of her friend and settled down to catch her breath.

"It breaks my heart to kill those porings and fabres, but I've gotta train." Mint said in frustration. She tossed Rumi a delicious looking apple.

Rumi thanked her and took a bite from the apple. "Uh huh..."

Mint was her childhood friend who lived next door. She came from Payon and was planning to uphold her family tradition and grow up to be a strong hunter.

"You ready?" Mint winked. Rumi nodded and they left the small town of Izlude to hunt some Porings.

Rumi started out by poking a small green bug, commonly known as a Fabre. The little creature scratched her ankles, but it didn't hurt that much, and after all the poking and scratching, the Fabre died.

"Are you going to stay there and poke bugs all day!?" Mint exclaimed in exasperation. "Help me kill that frog over there!"

"Hai!" Rumi replied, laughing, as she ran over to her friend and they proceeded to kill the huge frog. 

Mint wiped some sweat off her forehead. "What're you planning to be, Rumi?"

Rumi shrugged. "I dunno." 

Mint made a face. "Weirdo."

Her friend laughed in reply. "I'm kidding. I'm planning to be an acolyte."

"Okay..." Mint nodded. "Look, I've been training for a week, and I'm heading to Payon today with my brother. So I guess... good luck."

Rumi nodded. "See you."

Mint ran back to Izlude, and Rumi grinned to herself.

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"Yo." Mint's brother, a knight named Chent, greeted his sister as she ran home. "You ready to head to Payon?"

Mint nodded. "Yeah."

"What's wrong? You look kind of troubled." Chent commented.

"It's Rumi. I don't think she'll ever turn into something." Mint replied plainly.

"Not really..." Chent replied, scractching his neck. "I helped her out with some Rockers last week, and she did pretty well. The reason she's not that strong physically is because she's focusing more of her training on Magic."

Silence.

Rumi pointed her dagger at her brother's neck.

"Aghh...! MINT!"

"YOU TRAINED WITH ROCKERS... WITHOUT ME!?" 

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Rumi was lying to her mother. A week before, Rumi's brother had already helped her fight some Rockers, and she was trained enough already. She could probably try being an acolyte anytime she wanted at this rate. It was getting dark, and so she walked all the way to Prontera. But not before giving and apple to a small poring.

As soon as she got to Prontera, she yawned and saw an inn. Which also happened to be a bar.

She ran inside, and because of her short height, she had to prop up on the stool by the bar to face the bartender and also the inn manager.

"What'll it be, missy?" The husky voice of the bartender inquired.

"Uhm.. how much is a night?"

"300 zeny." He replied.

Rumi's jaws dropped. Three hundred zeny!? That was more than half of the money she had right now.

Or so she thought...

A thief had just grabbed her pouch of zenies and started to run out the door.

"H-hey!" Rumi exclaimed, attempting to run after him, but instead, she tripped on her own two feet and stumbled into the back of a hunter.

"Ouch!" The hunter exclaimed. He grabbed her by the shoulders. "Watch it, you brat!"

Rumi whimpered in pain and peeked sideways to see the retreating thief.

"Slow down..." A guy said, his face furrowed in frustration. This guy had messy, scarlet hair and a plain white shirt.. and weirdly, a scarf. He wasn't wearing his job uniform like most of the people in the bar. "Hey, you stole from a girl again, didn't you?"

The thief laughed in nervousness and tossed Rumi's pouch behind him, before running out of the building, obviously frightened.

The red haired guy picked up at pouch and walked up to the bar. "The usual, please."

The bartender, who was under the counter at that time, stood up straight and just then noticed the Hunter who was holding Rumi by the shoulders. "Hey! No rough housing in here!"

The hunter glared at him in reply. "She didn't even apologize to me, you stupid goat!"

"Let go of her this instant!" The bartender replied in anger.

"Hey..." Scratching the back of his head, the guy with scarlet hair tilted his head in a wondering stance. "That girl looks familiar..."

"Take her, then." The hunter yelled, grabbing Rumi by the collar and pushed her furiously at the guy. The guy's eyes widened for a while and he panicked, but he caught Rumi's small form in his arms.

"Oww..." Rumi whimpered, shaking her head.

The scarlet haired guy pushed her gently away from his chest by placing his hands on his shoulders and examined her face; Then he looked at the rough hunter. "That's no way to treat a lady!" 

The hunter shrugged in reply and walked out the door. People who were in the bar then went back to their business, implementing that things like this happened everyday.

"You okay?" The guy asked as Rumi settled down on a stool beside him. Rumi nodded.

"Thank you..." She muttered.

"Mm." He replied as he took a sip from the drink the bartender handed to him.

A priest walked up to them. "Excuse me.."

"May I help you?" The bartender asked.

"Has anyone of you seen an assassin around here...? Wounded by the neck, and that's all the information we know."  


"No." The bartender replied, Kira scratched the back of his head again in frustration and replied with a no.

"Why...?" Rumi asked, blinking.

"He's a wanted criminal. Said to be seen around this place, Prontera, or Izlude."

"What did he do?" Rumi asked out of curiousity.

"He and his guildsmen attacked the King of Prontera, they all escaped, but one of them was slashed by a Midguard Knight by the neck... and that is the only clue."

"Oh my..." Rumi whispered.

The assassin she met earlier.. was that evil?

"No." Rumi replied plainly. "No, I haven't seen him."

The assassin she met earlier... wasn't evil to her.

The priest thanked them and walked away.

"Kira." The bartender inquired.

"Don't say my name out loud..." The scarlet haired guy glared at the bartender.

The bartender shrugged. "The pouch, Kira... this lady owns it."

"Oh." Kira replied, as he dug into his pocket and tossed it to Rumi who caught it in her hands. 

"What's your name, missy?" The bartender asked. "A kid novice like you shouldn't be out in a place like this at this time."

Rumi chuckled nervously. "Rumi.. my name is Rumi."

Kira sputtered on his drink and stared at Rumi with large eyes.

"Yes...?" Rumi asked, her face red with embarrassment. "Why are you staring at me...?"

"Love at first sight, maybe." The bartender laughed. Rumi blushed even more and Kira growled at the old man.

"The... the room, sir." Rumi asked the bartender.

He smiled in reply and pointed up the stairs. "Room Five... any friend of Kira is welcome to stay here for free."

"How come I don't get to stay for free, then..." Kira mumbled.

Rumi laughed and thanked the bartender before running up to find Room Five.

_Those guys were really nice..._ Rumi thought to herself, as she plopped down on the bed.

_But that other guy.. the one who wasn't in a job uniform, he sounds really familiar... could it be--? Uhm, no way, that's impossible._

She was startled to hear someone knock on her door. "Come in..." She called out.

The door opened, and Kira entered with a sheepish smile as he closed the door behind him. "Hey."

"H-hey..." Rumi replied, sitting up on her bed.

"I just wanted to thank you." Kira replied, as he looked at the floor.

"What did I...?"

He laughed and plopped down on the bed beside her without permission. With most girls, they would have gotten angry, but Rumi just stared at him with curiousity.

He tugged at his scarf and pointed at the bandage on his neck. "Get it now?"

Rumi gasped and edged away from him upon realizing what the situation was. "You-- you were the one from this morning-- who attacked--"

"I guess it's alright to be afraid." Kira replied with a wink. "You have a reason."

"N-no..." Rumi huffed. "I-I'm sorry.. I shouldn't have been frightened..."

She nervously reached out with her hand and tugged his scarf off and carefully peeled the bandages off. 

Kira blinked. "What's up?" 

"I... I don't like the way the bandages are put on."

"Okay." Kira laughed. "I didn't have any red herbs and no acolytes or priests to ask too."

Rumi chuckled and grabbed some spare bandages from her pocket, and carefully placed them on his neck.

Kira laughed. "You planning to be an acolyte?"

Rumi nodded. "Uh huh..."

"Okay. Wake me up in the morning or something, and I'll help you out."

"T-thanks..." 

He ruffled her hair before leaving the room.

Rumi smiled to herself and ducked under the blanket to get some sleep.

_**To Be Continued...**_


	2. Going to Morroc

A/N: Agh.. I finished this chapter the other night, then the comp suddenly restarted. Bangs head... and it didn't auto save. TT All my inspiration flew away. OO

feathertop : snickers... XD I like to think Kira's handsome. oO

Arethusa Fellini : Yeah. Charming assassins are the best. =3 /gg

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_**Chronicles of an Acolyte**_

_**Part Two**_

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_It's me again... maybe you're getting sick of me, but I don't really mind. Anyway, my first day on my own was frightening... but I was also very relieved._

_You see, I grew up with my mother hating assassins. And so I, in return, grew up thinking they were just vile criminals who liked to kill and steal from people. That was, until I met Kira._

_I don't know him too well... all I know is that he's a seventeen year old assassin. The bartender was telling me about it this morning. Kira's an orphan, and he grew up as a kid stealing from the streets of Midguard to survive... until he gained enough skill to turn into an assassin. I really don't know why he decided to become an assassin... and assassins assassinate._

_Obviously._

_Assassination is sort of an art. People, mostly mafias, pay these assassins to kill a certain person. And most people get it wrong: Murdered is different from assassinated. Assassination is much more complicated, you're not supposed to leave a single clue behind, and most assassinations are meant to look like the person died in an accident._

_They're supposed to live in shadows, and seeing one can cost you your life. But during the day, they walk around like normal people, and you can't tell the difference._

_It's so stupid._

_Why'd my father have to become an assassin..?_

_Ever since he joined the guild, he left me and mom._

_I hate to admit it, and I'm sure mom feels the same way... but I miss him._

_This Kira guy-- he might know my father, and that's just one reason why I'm so fond of him._

"He went ahead...?" Rumi blinked, as she tied up her messy mass of hair into a her usual French braid.

The bartender nodded. "Yeah, he said he has some business to attend to."

Rumi frowned. _Assassin business...?_

That morning, Rumi had woken up, and the bartender had given her some free breakfast. The old man seemed so fond of her. Kira later joined them, and they got into talking. After that, Kira had dragged Rumi to the tool shop and bought her around fifty red potions... in order for her to stay alive as a novice. It was really heavy on her backpack and it slowed her down, but she couldn't tell him that.

Then they returned, Rumi took a bath in the inn, and when she came out, the bartender said Kira had already left.

"Thanks." Rumi smiled. "By the way... what's your name?"

The bartender laughed. "That's right. Just call me Manong Buddy."

Rumi nodded. "Manong Buddy, where's the Prontera Church?"

"Just head north west... take care, Rumi-Chan."

She smiled again in reply before running out the inn.

"Such a sweet girl..." Manong Buddy chuckled before going back to his work. "Kira's so lucky..."

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"North west, north west..." Rumi fumbled around Prontera. This girl had absolutely no sense of direction. 

She approached a familiar looking guy... "Excuse me--"

The guy blinked at her.

Silence.

It was the thief from the previous night.

"You!" They both exclaimed in unison.

"You stole my zeny from last night!" Rumi pointed at him accusingly. Several heads from around turned to them.

"Shh!" The thief replied in frustration. "Don't make such a scene!"

"But you took it!"

"And gave it back!"

"Did not... you just got scared of Ki--"

The thief clamped his hand over her mouth. "Don't say his name..."

She nodded, and he let go. 

"Hmph. Don't even know why they told you his name..." The thief muttered, as he started to walk away.

"Hey."

"What!?" The thief yelled back at her.

"Where's the Prontera Church?"

The thief sweat dropped and pointed to a road. "Turn right."

"Thanks!" Rumi laughed and ran towards the said direction.

"Idiot..." The thief shook his head in frustration.

------------

Meanwhile... 

"Poison spore, poison spooore!!!!!" Mint shrieked as she ran around in circles. 

From a distance, her brother, Chent sweat dropped and took his sword from it's sheath and attacked the poison spore...

With no more than a flick of his wrist.

It died.

"You have a long way to go, sis." Chent commented. His sister in return stomped her feet in aggravation.

The siblings were on their way to Payon from Alberta... and poison spores attacked from every direction. Mint, a novice, wouldn't stand a chance, and so, her brother the Knight, showed chivalry (and amusement) in saving his sister from the oh-so-weak poison spores.

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"You want to become an acolyte...?" The priest inquired, adjusting his glasses to get a better look at Rumi.

Rumi nodded in reply. "If... if I may."

"You're only fourteen." The priest smiled. "That's a pretty young age."

"Ah! Well, my mom is kinda forcing me to 'choose my path'..." Rumi's mouth twitched as she emphasized that phrase. "And I always did plan to be an acolyte. I just didn't think it had to be so soon.."

The old priest gave out a chuckle. "I understand if you don't want to become one right now. But there's a really long line behind you, so you'd better decide now."

Rumi blushed. "Gomen! I... I want to become an acolyte now. What am I supposed to do?"

"Let's see..." The priest thought to himself and looked over a couple of papers on his desk. "I'll go easy on you... find Mother Mathilda, and she'll decide. Once you find her, come back here and we'll see if you can become and acolyte."

"Where's Mother Mathilda...?"

The priest smiled at her. "I can't tell you. The only clue I can give is that she stays in a very warm place, and helps out sick people who come visit her in her oasis."

"Eh..?"

He nodded and beckoned at the long line behind her.

_Geez... lots of people sure want to become acolytes. _She mused to herself, before exiting the place. _Now what...?_

She sat down on the sidewalk and reached into her backpack, taking out a Midguard Map which Chent had given to her the other week, when he was training her with Rockers. A warm place with an oasis...? Obviously, a desert place. The only desert on the map was Morroc.

Rumi gaped. _What a huge place!!_ The town itself was fairly as big as Prontera... but the desert! It was _huge._

"What's this? Hey, you shouldn't do stuff like that in a place where people can step on you. Get a table, idiot."

Frowning, Rumi looked up to see a person she dreaded to see. The thief from before... the thief who stole her money and was frightened of Kira... and the thief whom she had also met earlier that day.

"You again...?" Rumi said with an irritated tone.

"Yo." He said, with the same unpleased tone. "See you..."

"Ei.. uhm... wait."

"What?"

"How do I get to Morroc...?"

The thief raised an eyebrow. "Use your map."

"Err..." Rumi laughed nervously. "Do you know anyone who can escort me from desert wolves...?"

"They don't attack you if you leave them alone." He started to walk away again.

"Geez, fine." Rumi said under her breath. "I was just trying to be friends."

The thief stopped in his tracks and laughed. "Right."

"Right."

"I'm going to Morroc." He said, turning around to look at her. "It's my hometown. You can tag along if you want, but don't annoy me, or I'll feed you to desert wolves."

Rumi stood up, the map crumpled in her hand. "Thanks!"

"Five hundred zeny..."

"Wha...?"

He grinned. "It's the fee for my escorting. A guy's gotta earn money, you know."

"Ugh!" Rumi screamed in irritation. "You--... you just wanted money!"

"Yes. So?"

Rumi stomped her foot. "Let's just go."

"Cliff..." He muttered.

"What!? You're going to push my corpse of a cliff...? You don't think the wolves would have devoured it completely?"

He snorted in amusement. "Idiot. My name's Cliff."

"Ah... sorry. I'm Ru--"

"Stop. 'Idiot's fine enough."

"Agh! You-- you...!"

"Are you coming or not!?"

Rumi blinked... Cliff was far away, stomping towards the Prontera exit. She shook her head furiously and ran after him.

_Beggars can't be choosers._

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"You were caught, Kira?" A husky voice inquired. It was a dark and damp place, enclosed in rock walls. The only light visible was from the dim lamps that were hung on the walls.

"Sorry.." Kira replied, his eyes set on the floor. 

"Look up." Another guy beside him ordered. Kira made a face and looked at the one with the husky voice, the Guild Leader, in the eye.

"Sorry...? Is that all you have to say? Our guild was caught, and now it's quite obvious that it was us who tried to assassinate the king, and there were witnesses who saw you... now everyone is looking for a guy with crimson hair and a wound in the neck."

Kira twitched. _Obviously, it would be us who'd try to assassinate the king... assassins. Assassinate. Use your brain, idiot._

"Don't make rude faces!" They guy beside him yelled, giving Kira a powerful punch on the right cheek.

"Ow..." Kira glared at the old man and massaged his cheek.

"That's enough!" The Guild Leader yelled. "Kira, do you regret becoming an assassin?"

"Yup."

This nonchalant way of answering, and the answer itself, resulted in the old man giving him a hard kick in the stomach. Kira was sent flying across the room, and his back hit the rock wall in a strong impact.

"Idiot! He asked, didn't he!?" Kira yelled, massaging his painful back, but not making an effort get up.

"I said that's enough!" The guild leader roared. The old man sneered and glared at Kira. "I'll give you your chance later. Kira!"

Kira forced himself to look at the Guild Leader.

"I know it wasn't your choice to become an assassin, but you're one now. You've killed befo--"

"I didn't want to!"

"But you did." He took a pause. "You know what will happen if you want to quit being an assassin, am I right?"

"...you're going to kill me."

"That's right. You know too much about this guild... like where our hideout is and such. In the outside world, you may be a powerful person. But in this guild, you're merely a weak kid, and the people here won't make any second thoughts on killing you if you make a mistake."

"Okay..." He muttered.

"Old man." The guild leader faced the man who was beating up Kira earlier. "You may punish him now."

"Argh, you mean that wasn't it yet!?" Kira yelled, looking up. The guild leader didn't reply to this as he left the room, the old man approached Kira with his weapon in his hand.

-------------

Rumi, blinking, looked around. They were in Morroc after two hours of leaving Prontera. It should have been around five hours, but halfway to Morroc, a couple of Knights on PecoPecos offered them rides.

"Cliff... do you know where I can find Mother Mathilda?" Rumi asked her companion.

"Yeah. No. Maybe. See you, idiot." Cliff said, waving his hand sarcastically.

"Rumi! R-U-M-I! Not IDIOT!" She yelled, resulting in a smirk from Cliff.

Their argument was cut short when a little boy's screaming for help was heard. Rumi and Cliff both looked towards the entrance and saw a boy being chased by wolves. A pack of about five angry wolves.

"That idiot." Cliff hissed. "He must've annoyed them again."

The young boy cried out in fear as he stumbled on the brick steps of Morroc headfirst. People around them were backing away, frightened. 

"Big brother!" A girl from behind Rumi shrieked. This girl pushed Rumi forward by accident.

"Ahh!" Rumi screamed, waving her arms. She reached out her hand to catch the first thing she could by instinct.

She grabbed the fur of one of the wolves. The wolf howled in pain and bit Rumi's wrist, throwing her aside.

"Rumi! Crap..." Cliff groaned. Rumi gave another cry of panic as she backed away from the wolves, who had then ignored the little boy and reverted their attention to Rumi.

"Cliff! I'm so sorry!" The little boy cried, as he ran towards Cliff.

Cliff ignored him and yelled at Rumi. "Hey! Idiot! Make a run for it!"

"Don't call me idiot!!"

"This isn't the time to be talking about names!" Cliff yelled in frustration.

The wolves pounced into the air, and shrieks from the people around them were heard. Rumi shut her eyes, still clutching her wounded wrist as she waited for the pain to come.

But none came. All she heard were wolves howling in pain and the sounds of punching and kicking.

She opened her eyes slowly to see that familiar crimson haired assassin.

"Kira...!" She said in surprise. _What is he doing here...?_

As soon as the wolves were gone, the people surrounding them gave a sigh of relief and started walking away. They were still chattering about the frightening event that just took place.

"Oi, Cliff!" Kira yelled as he helped Rumi up. "What the hell happened?"

"Sorry, Kira!" The boy from earlier exclaimed, stepping forward. "It was my fault! I should've listened when you and Cliff told me not to tease them."

"I'm sorry too!" The girl who pushed Rumi said right after, taking a step forward too. "I pushed that girl by accident!"

Kira sweat dropped. "Why are you apologizing to me...?"

"We're sorry, lady!" The two of them yelled in unison as they faced Rumi, who sweat dropped.

"I-it's okay..." Rumi stammered. She then looked at Kira, and her eyes widened. His face and arms were full of bruises and cuts.

"Let's go." Cliff told the two kids and grabbed them by the collar. "I'm going to make sure you two don't get soup tonight."

"Aww, Cliff!" The boy whined.

"Kira." Rumi called out, frowning.

"Yes?" Kira blinked as he faced Rumi.

"Oi, Kira." Cliff's voice cut in. Kira and Rumi both looked at Cliff, who was in a fairly far distance. He was still holding the two kids by the collar. "She's looking for Mother Mathilda. Don't help the idiot, okay? She didn't pay me for escorting her here to Morroc."

"Eh?" Kira stared. "Are you two angry at each other or something?"

"RUMI!" Rumi yelled for the last time. "And here's your damn money!" She threw him some pennies.

Cliff raised his eyebrows. "That's it?"

"Cut it out, Cliff." Kira said.

Cliff laughed. "I was kidding. See you guys." Then he left, the two kids still whining for soup.

"C'mon, I'll take you to Mother Mathilda." Kira told Rumi as soon as they were gone. "She lives in an oasis north of Morroc. Not many people know about that place, though. She's a nun who heals the injured and sick people of Morroc."

"Thanks." Rumi smiled at him and followed him out of Morroc. Then, she remembered the question which she was supposed to ask in the first place. "Kira?"

Kira muttered something about PecoPeco drops before answering. "What is it?"

"Why do you have bruises and cuts?"

"Eh?" Kira blinked. After a pause, he grinned at her, at the same time winking, and went back to complaining about the unhygienic manners of PecoPecos.

Obviously, he had stepped on some 'dirt' that a PecoPeco had dropped. Too bad PecoPecos don't have bathrooms.

"Hey! Answer me, why do you have bruises and cuts?"

He ignored her question for the second time, but he stopped when it caught to his attention that Rumi had stopped walking and her fists were trembling.

"What's wrong?" Kira asked, tilting his head.

"I had my eyes shut..."

"What?"

"When the wolves attacked me, I didn't see anything when you drove them away. Did they hurt you?"

Kira chuckled. "Measly wolves can't hurt an assassin, Rumi."

"Then what did!?"

"Why do you want to know, anyway..?"

Rumi made a face of disbelief. "Why wouldn't I want to know?"

Kira blinked. "Are we going to stand around asking questions all day?"

"Maybe." Rumi giggled.

"Damn, I hate the hot weather of Morroc." Kira muttered, taking out his huge shirt.

"What...? What are you doing!?" Rumi panicked. _Why the hell is he getting naked?!_

Kira sweat dropped, and Rumi realized he had a black undershirt under his huge shirt. "What were you thinking?" Kira asked, still sweat dropping.

"N-nothing." Rumi replied, hiding her blush. She started to panic again when Kira tore the sleeve of the shirt he had taken off.

Kira tied the torn piece of cloth around Rumi's wrist. The wrist which was bitten by the wolf earlier. "That'll stop the bleeding for now. You know, when something hurts, you should just say it."

Apparently, Kira had noticed earlier that Rumi was clutching her bleeding wrist and was wincing from the pain.

"You're one to talk." Rumi muttered. Kira gave another chuckle.

"Let's head for Mother Mathilda!" Kira told her, pointing to the direction in front of them. 

Rumi nodded. "Thanks, Kira."

He grinned at her for the nth time and they started walking of to the direction Kira had pointed out.

_**To Be Continued**_


	3. Midnight Visits

AHH! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, AFTER ALMOST A YEAR, I'M UPDATING!

Dunno why… I suddenly just wanted to. Haha. I remember typing this chapter a million times before, but for some reason, I keep loosing them. Man, I'm still annoyed coz of that until now.

…

Chronicles of an Acolyte 

**Part Three**

…

_Ohmy… ohmyohmyohmy… something really queer happened… Kira and me set of to Mother Mathilda, and that's where all the confusion set place. First, Kira stopped a distance away from the nun's cottage. When I asked him why he did, he simply shrugged and urged me to go ahead._

_So I did. Mother Mathilda is this old lady, and extremely nice. She told me the consequences of being an acolyte and so forth. She told me that she was going to chant a spell that would not exactly teach me to heal, but more of remind me how. Because, according to her, everyone knew how to, you just needed the right way to awaken your magic… or something._

_She also told me something interesting. Some of the people who asked for their powers to be awaken never return to the Prontera Church to be labeled a nun… they simply roam Midguard, knowing how to heal others. It wasn't exactly against the law, but it was considered immoral. Don't ask me why… ehh…_

_Mother Mathilda started chanting her spell, and everything went white. I could sorta feel something warm in my throat and chest… after that, I had a difficult time breathing, and just collapsed on the floor. Mother Mathilda said something about that being normal, because the spell was quite strong._

_Dunno what happened next… I remember passing out and hearing voices. I gained consciousness after awhile, but I was still SO tired. When I opened my eyes a bit, I realized that Kira was carrying me on his back and bringing me who-knows-where._

_Erm…_

_He was…_

_Warm._

_Somehow, I felt secure, and I just dozed back to sleep… that being the reason, and another one that when he noticed I was awake, he said, "Go back to sleep."_

_So I did._

…

Morroc was a relatively warm place. In one of the old houses, a small girl ran inside a room and started laughing, waking up someone who was still one the bed.

Rumi, the one on the bed, rubbed her eyes and sat up straight.

"W-where am I…?" She asked, all confused.

"My name's Raine!" The little girl replied enthusiastically. Rumi soon realized she was the girl from before who accidentally made a pack of wolves attack Rumi. "Cliff told me to wake you up, or he'll eat your breakfast!"

"A…ah?" Rumi stood up immediately. "Breakfast…? N-no, I'm sorry for being such a burden!"

Raine looked at her and shook her head in a childish manner.

Soon enough, Cliff popped his head inside the door and started yelling. "Hurry up! Kira's going to kill me if we don't give you 'proper accommodation', or whatever goes on in that crazy mind of his!"

Silence. Rumi looked at Cliff like he was the most horrible person alive (which she could have sworn she was).

…

"This is delicious…" Rumi said between gulps of her soup.

"Thanks!" Raine replied cheerfully. "My brother and me made it!"

Rumi smiled back in gratitude and continued to eat her breakfast. She and Raine chatted on about almost anything that came into mind.

"I live here with my two brothers, Cliff and Plain… Plain's the one who was teasing the wolves yesterday!" She gave a cute pout. "We're all orphans, and Cliff is a cool and nice brother coz he's acting like our dad! Err, I mean one, I mean…"

From the other room, the voice of Cliff muttering something was heard.

"What about Kira, then?" Rumi asked with curiousity.

Raine seemed to think about it for awhile, and finally replied, "Cliff's petrified of Kira, so he does anything Kira says."

This time, not only muttering was heard as Cliff stormed into the room, all red. "I'm not scared of him, Raine… geez…" He faced Rumi with a scowl. "We owe him a lot, so we do him any favor we can afford."

"I see…"

"By the way," Cliff continued. "He said he's coming here later to escort you to Prontera."

"N-no!" Rumi exclaimed, not wanting Kira to do her any more favors.

Raine blinked. "Are Rumi and Kira a couple…?"

"No!" Rumi exclaimed, for a different reason this time. "Anyway, Cliff, I can go to Prontera by my—"

"No." Cliff replied simply.

"Bu-"

"Quiet, woman."

"ARGH!"

Raine cheered on as Rumi chucked her now empty bowl at the thief, who ducked almost professionally, if he hadn't hit his head on the edge of the door.

…

"Cheent! Look!" Mint's voice rang, all happy. She exited the Archery Office in her new uniform, and proud of it.

"Chent?" She blinked. Where was her brother this time? A scowl crept to her face as she realized her brother was flirting with a priestess, when he should have been complimenting her new image.

With no second thought, Mint crashed his head with her the flat of her boots. Chent, being a knight, didn't get hurt but sarcastically pretended to.

"Great, Mint." He commented at last.

Mint smiled. "And, I think I beat Rumi to it!"

"Ah."

…

"H-honestly, Kira!" Rumi exclaimed. "I can walk to Prontera alone!"

"But, err…" The assassin scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner. "We're already here, anyway…"

Rumi blinked a bit sheepishly. Had she been complaining that long? All she knew was that at around afternoon, Kira had come to Cliff's house and they ate lunch together. And even with Rumi's protests, Kira practically dragged her all the way to Prontera, not wanting her to travel by herself.

The whole way to the huge city, she was complaining, but not really making any serious actions for him to stop escorting her.

"I… see…" Rumi squeaked in embarrassment.

Kira chuckled and pat her head playfully. "I'll see you around, Rumi."

She shrugged in reply, excited in finally signing up as an acolyte.

…

It took way longer than she expected. When she came out of the church, the sky was dark and she probably had to stay in the inn, which she lodged before. But it was worth it… she was now wearing the official acolyte uniform, the fabric soft against her skin.

In a good mood, she practically skipped her way to the inn.

"Ah!" Kira's voice exclaimed. "Rumi did it!"

Manong, the inn keeper, smiled. "Yes, she did. She looks even prettier, doesn't she, Kira?"

Kira, who was seated on one of the stools with a drink in his hand, grinned at Rumi. "Yup, she does."

Blushing furiously, Rumi took a seat beside Kira. "Uhm, I'm staying here for the night…"

"Really now?" The old man replied. "Okay then, but I'm not allowing any midnight visits from Kira."

Spit-take.

"What?" Kira exclaimed, staring at the old man who was laughing at his own joke.

Rumi, who was blushing even more now, avoided looking at Kira. "Ahh…"

…

"He says no midnight visits, and he bans it, supposedly… so now, I'm going to do it just to annoy him!" Kira said, practically banging on the wall in annoyance.

He was in Rumi's room. Rumi was seated on her bed, blinking at him in confusion, now wearing her normal clothes and not her acolyte uniform; same with Kira, who she has never seen in an assassin uniform, since that was the supposable situation anyway.

"It's not midnight…" Rumi replied softly, stating a fact.

"Geez, Rumi." Kira replied, a bit exasperated. "Do you even know what he meant by that? Of course I'm not gunna give you a real midnight visit."

Rumi scratched the back of her head. "No… what did he mean by that?"

He looked at her, confused. "Then why were you blushing before?"

This made her blush again, and she fiddled with the blanket of her bed. "I dunno…" Truth was, she was blushing because everyone else took it as a big deal, and even though she didn't know what was going on, she felt embarrassed that she was the center of attention.

"Ah! Kira!"

Kira tilted his head. "What?"

"Do you still have your wounds?"

"Err…" Kira started. "I got more than enough. Why does that make you happy?"

Rumi sweatdropped. "No, I'm sorry… I just wanted to try healing…"

The crimson haired teenager gave a chuckle and plopped down on the bed beside her. He pulled up his sleeves and frowned at the bruises on his arms. Forcing a smile, he looked at her. "Go crazy."

She chuckled, and tried out her newfound spell with his bruises. Rumi held his arm with her hands, and his arm radiated with warmth as she tried her spell out.

Since she was not that trained yet, she only succeeded in healing a small amount of them, and that was only on his arm, not counting the rest of the bruises and wounds on his body.

"S-sorry…" She didn't really expect much, but she felt so useless, not being able to heal what was expected from average acolytes.

"Hm? No, don't worry. You're new at this, and I've got way too much wounds for any acolyte or priestess anyway."

She sighed and fiddled with her fingers, staring at the ground. There was complete silence as Kira stared at the ceiling from his spot beside Rumi.

"So, what're you going to do after tonight?" Kira asked.

"Uhm… I don't know… probably go to Payon to visit a friend."

"I see."

Silence.

"You want to…" She hesitated for a bit, but she knew she wanted to ask. For some reason, she had grown fond of Kira. "Err, 'escort' me there, or Cliff said, whatever you mean in your crazy mind?"

Kira mumbled something about killing ungrateful thieves, and patted Rumi's hair. "Sure. If I'm not going to be doing anything, I'll come with you."

"Thank you."

Silence.

"What's your last name?"

She blinked, confused at the sudden random question. "Izumi."

He gave an expression she couldn't explain, but it soon disappeared from his face just as soon as he had it.

"Why?"

"Just curio—"

"Kira?" A voice yelled as the door to the room opened. It was the old man, keeper of the inn. "Didn't I say no midnight visits?"

"Wha…" Kira started. "It's not even midnight yet, and I'm not planning to give her a midnight visit!"

Rumi blinked. "Will someone please tell me what that is..?"

**To Be Continued…**


	4. Sea

**A/N:**

Hi, I just need to clear some things before I write the fourth chapter.

_Why Priestess/Assassin, aco/Assassin,(etcetc)? That is getting so old!_ …Why, you ask? It's simple. I like that pairing. :D They look good together, and it doesn't matter if it's too clique-ish, because that's how I like it. Hah:p

_Are you Filipino?_ People started asking me this when the name of the Bartender was "Manong Buddy". Yes, I am Filipino. Manong Buddy is the guy who sells in our local sari-sari store. XD

_WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MUCH TYPOS11!11, YOU SUUCK!11 _ Sorry. I'm lazy. Proofreading my own works is something I rarely do. You can do it for me if you want to, but other than that, no thanks.

_Midnight Visits - _ I really don't know how to explain it… but, you know, in the middle of the night, when someone gets this strong urge to visit another room, and "stuff" happen. p

_**What**_

……

**Chapter Four: Sea**

_Hmm, I went back to Izlude after sleeping in Manong Buddy's inn. My mom was so proud of me. I thought she was going to practically hurt our neighbor just to see me heal someone. _

_I'm not too fond of my healing skills right now. They're really weak. Even just after a few spells, I'm so tired already… Kira was really nice to me, he brought me around Prontera to heal some wounded strangers. He said that it would help me get used to healing more… Uhm… yeah. _

_I ate lunch with my mom, and though I wanted to introduce her to Kira, he said he didn't want to. So, after eating, we hung out by a bench near the docks. He asked my if I was still going to Payon, and I said yes. He told me to tell my mom that I was going. My mom seemed worried, when she found out it was a "stranger" who was going to escort me. But she let me go, anyway. I'm "mature" enough._

_When I got back to the docks, Kira was nowhere. Cliff was there, though. Devastated is an understatement for what I felt. I HATE THAT GUY! He said Kira asked him (or threatened, in other terms) to take me aboard a three-day ship to Payon. He was going to meet us on the ship, how he would do that, I have no idea._

……

"There are a lot…" Rumi frowned as Cliff stood up straight to listen to what she as going to say. "A lot of thieves in this place."

He shook his head, him being one. "I'm aware of that."

About two or three people had already prodded for her pocket, looking for her coins. It was usual, for such a crowded place. They were aboard the ship, Vixen, to get to Payon. Much to Rumi's dismay, her and Cliff had to share a room.

To quote Cliff, he said, "Don't worry, it's going to take a million Baphomets to step on me before I even touch you. Get a grip."

Rumi was furious, of course.

"_I wonder where Kira is…?" _ She blinked, as she watched the waves of the ocean. Dolphins were playfully swimming alongside the ship, which amused her. Beside her, Cliff yawned.

"Why are you going off to Payon again?" He asked.

"To meet some friends…" She blinked, remembering the siblings, Mint and Chent. How were they?

Cliff mumbled something incoherent under his breath and rolled his eyes, something that the acolyte chose to ignore. Rumi blinked, and blankly stared at his agitated face for a while. He was staring at the waves below. With a sigh, Rumi leaned her shoulders on the railing.

"Who's Kira?"

The thief blinked. "You know… the guy who saved you from the wolves… scarlet hair… err—"

"No!" Rumi said suddenly, going red in the face. She realized that her question must have sounded extremely stupid. "He's an assassin, right? Why won't he tell me where he got those wounds? Why's he wanted? That stuff…"

Cliff shrugged. "How the hell should I know?"

The young acolyte paused for a while.

"It's not so bad being an assassin, though." Cliff added. "They mostly deal with politicians who give people a hard time, anyway… the recent news that the kind was attempted to be assassinated… I don't even know if that's true."

Rumi blinked. He was right… Kira was supposedly wanted for being with a group of assassins who were caught to attempt to assassinate the king. Why they tried to do so was a mystery.

The acolyte felt something moving in her side pocket, and she looked downwards. Gasping, she realized that someone had grabbed her wallet and was starting to run away in the crowd. "AH! Thief!"

"Geh…" Cliff frowned at her. "Really, even if you tell the crew I'm one, nobody will really care."

"No, idiot!" Rumi wanted to kick him in the shin, even though it was against her nature. "T-that guy—" She pointed to the retreating figure in a panic. "H-he took my wallet! Our tickets and stuff are inside…!"

Cliff made a sound of annoyance, and pulled her wrist, and they started running after the figure that noticed them and started running even faster. The people around them didn't seem to care, as if it happened a lot in that ship. Even though it was a top-class ship, they were hanging out in the lower docks where the thieves liked hanging out in.

"You idiot…!" Cliff snarled at Rumi. "I knew I shouldn't have asked you to hold my ticket!" The last thing that they wanted to happen was to be accused of stowing away.

"I'm the idiot?" Rumi retorted back. "It's your kind who are idiots! Stupid thieves…"

Deciding to ignore her comeback, Cliff said, "I'll go ahead, you're slowing me down. I'll see you later."

With that, he ran ahead towards the figure. _Jerk…_ Rumi thought with a scowl on her face, as she lost Cliff in the crowd.

"Ugh…" Cliff muttered under his breath as he jerked his way through the crowd of people, resulting in disturbed glares from them. His anger flared even more when he saw the thief who stole from them out of the crowd, and sticking his tongue out provokingly at him.

"Cliff! Hey!" A familiar voice called out, when Cliff had finally got out of the crowd and was about to run after the thief. It was Kira, looking a bit tired. He had appeared on the other side of the guy who took their belongings, blocking off his escape. The guy seemed to panic. "Where's Rumi?"

"Wait… bother me later, that guy took our stuff."

Kira made a face and threw a knife at the so-called thief, pinning his shirt down tightly to the floor. How he did it was a mystery. "Shut up for awhile. Hey, there's going to be a dance later out in the first-class deck…"

"Yeah, so?" Cliff walked up to the thief and took Rumi's wallet.

"Take Rumi, okay?" Kira grinned. "I want to dance with her later."

Cliff looked at him with disbelief. "What?"

With a sigh, Kira reverted to a low whisper, which only Cliff would be able to hear. "I have a job here… so I want Rumi to be out of the scene as possible, so just take her to the dance. I'll meet you guys there."

"Alright…" Cliff scratched the back of his neck. "But make it quick, she might think I like her or something."

Kira's eyes widened. "Hey! Don't take her as your date, you fool! She's going to my date, let's just say you're the chaperone!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

……

"Rumi!" A cheerful voice called out.

The acolyte, with a flushed face, turned around. She had been looking for Cliff in the crowd, to no avail. It was an older mage, one of their neighbors back in Izlude. It had been awhile since she last saw her. Her name was Ysa, and she was pretty popular. She had always looked out for Rumi in an older sister way.

"Oh wow, you're an acolyte now…!" Ysa practically screamed in excite, hugging Rumi in a tight embrace.

"A-ah…"

"So, what are you doing aboard the Vixen?" The mage gave a wink. "And are you alone? That's not good for a young lady."

The young acolyte smiled and gave a shake of her head. "I'm not alone… and I'm on my way to Payon to meet Mint and Chent."

"Oh, the notorious siblings, I see." Ysa gave an evil grin. She had always had a huge crush on Chent, the gallant knight. "Say, where are you friends you say you're with?"

She didn't want to tell the truth, that her wallet had gotten stolen and her "friend" had to chase the thief. "He… err—went to get something."

The mage paused for awhile, and ran her hands through her smooth blonde hair. "Are you attending the dance tonight?"

"There's a dance?"

Pause.

"You didn't know?"

"Uhm… no…"

"Rumi," Cliff called out, as he ran up next to her. He shot a confusing look at Ysa, then looked back at the acolyte, handing her the wallet back. "I got it back, idiot."

"Thanks, fool." Rumi rolled her eyes and grabbed it from his hands. "Ysa, meet Cliff and vice-versa."

"Is he your date?"

"NO." The two of them answered in an instant, hatred dripping in their voice. Ysa waved around her hand, ignoring their outbursts.

"Come with me," She said with a wink, grasping Rumi's wrist. "I'm going to make you a princess that even this cute thief here will _beg_ to dance with you."

"Tsch." Cliff crossed his arms. "She wishes."

Rumi stuck her tongue at him in annoyance.

……

"He runs one of the biggest gambling centers in Comodo, illegally ran." A whisper said, as they sat in the shadows. An assassin with light brown hair scanned over the piece of parchment, and beside him was Kira who was yawning. "He's cheated a lot of people, even innocent ones, out of a lot of money…"

"I see." Kira massaged his back. "Of course, it doesn't tell who wants him killed, and why exactly."

His companion smiled. "Of course."

Now, all they had to do was wait until the gambler came back to his room, which someone tipped them he would do so before going to the dance. They didn't want to make a ruckus; especially not in such a place they had no chance of escaping. They were already in their tuxedos, ready to go to the dance right after the job.

"This guy doesn't seem so big." Maki frowned. "Why'd they need to assign two people?"

Kira grinned. "You know… they don't seem to trust me so much, after what happen in my last assignment…"

Maki shrugged. "Your fault for being so stupid."

"Hey, Maki…" Kira asked. "Do you know the name Izumi…?"

Maki seemed to think about it for a while, and he plopped his feet on a chair lazily. "It sounds familiar. Why?"

"I met this girl." The scarlet haired assassin replied. "Her last name's Izumi, and I know I've heard of that name somewhere…"

"Doesn't ring a bell. Sorry."

They paused for a while.

"You know you're not supposed to be getting any girlfriends, right?"

"Shut up."

Suddenly, the knob to the suite suddenly turned, and a husky grumbling was heard.

"About time…" Kira mumbled under his breath. They were still hiding in the shadows, out of view.

"Hic… stupid fools… hic…" Inside came a fat man, and he banged the door behind him. He was walking in a drunken stupor, and was mumbling something about his underlings. Maki stepped out of the shadows, and waved to the fat man with a smile.

"Who… hic… WHO ARE YOU? What's your… hic… BUSINESS in my… hic… suite?"

"You are." Kira replied simply, adjusting the tie around his neck.

……

"What the hell is taking them…" Cliff grumbled under his breath, as stared out at the dance floor. He was told to just wait for them there. He didn't like occasions like these… all those sophisticated people mingling and dancing to music. Seriously, what was the point?

Plus, he was forced to wear a tuxedo.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he blinked as Ysa turned him around. She had a smug look her face, as she announced, "Presenting… Rumiko Izumi, a perfect renovated one by me!"

"Y-ysa!" Rumi's face went scarlet in a second. "Sush!"

Cliff blinked, almost not recognizing her. She was wearing a long white, sleeveless silk dress with a slit in the left side. It seemed like the dress of a Priestess, except for the color, and collar, and the sleeves. Plus, the leggings. She was also forced by Ysa to let her hair flow loose, and she didn't look like herself at all.

"Who are you?" Cliff asked. Rumi shot him a glare.

Because of Ysa's exclamation of pride, a couple of guys had flocked over to Rumi, asking her to dance. Cliff shook his head in impatience and set off to get some drinks for himself. The guys surrounding Rumi didn't seem to mind she was only a fourteen year old minor, and they were already around seventeen to twenty.

"You are sooo adorable!" Ysa squealed. "Go on, dance with them…!"

"Y-Ysa, I don't know how to da—'

"Nonsense!"

Rumi whimpered under her breath, uncomfortable at all the stares she was getting. She wasn't used to so much attention. Against her protests, Ysa was able to force her to dance with a seemingly nice guy. He even taught her the most basic steps, and she didn't want to be rude, so she had to oblige. Before she knew it, she was amidst the crowd of dancing people.

"She is soo cute!" Ysa told Cliff, as they stared at the flushed Rumi out in the dance floor. Cliff shrugged and stuffed a kebab in his mouth. "Seriously, don't you just want to dance with her right now?"

The thief looked at her like she was crazy, which he could assure she was. She seemed so obsessed with the young acolyte.

Though she didn't want to admit it, Rumi was having fun. The nice guy Ysa paired her up with was actually pretty decent, and not to say good looking. His name was Maki, if she wasn't mistaken.

"Kira?" Cliff looked up from their table, where he and Ysa were staying. "What the hell are you staring at?"

Kira blinked, and realized Cliff was right behind him. He shot a glare at the thief. "Didn't I tell you to be her chaperone? What the hell is she doing there… dancing with… ugh, Maki off all people?"

Cliff gave a shrug and took another bite off her meal. Ysa raised her eyebrow at Kira, offended, since she was the one who set Rumi up.

"She looks different." Kira took a seat beside Ysa.

Rolling his eyes, Cliff replied, "Maybe because this girl here dressed her up in something completely different, you dolt."

"Oh, hi." Kira shot Ysa a confusing look. "I don't believe we've met."

"Ysa." She replied in an instant. "And I presume you're Kira."

He gave her a grin, and shot his attention back to the dance floor. Rumi's face seemed very uncomfortable and embarrassed, and Kira soon realized it was because Maki nonchalantly placed his hand near her bottom. Something he did a lot to pretty girls.

Without a second thought, Kira went back to his feet. "Okay, time to kick some Maki butt."

The assassin quickly walked up to his target, shooting a glare at Maki when his partner spotted him.

"Kira!" Rumi excitingly said with a huge smile. "I didn't even know you were able to get aboard…"

"Of course." Kira grinned, still looking at Maki with a glare. "I just had to take care of some things."

"Didn't know you knew each other." Maki told Kira.

Rumi blinked, not really noticing the tension between the two partners. She excused herself for awhile to get some water, and ran off to the beverages bar.

"Man, that kid's cute." Maki sighed, watching Rumi's retreating figure.

"Yeah, but you're going to have to stay away from her from this minute on." Kira said, smiling at him and patting his shoulder. "Alright?"

"If you say so…" His companion snorted. "I know better than to get in a fight with a guild mate. I'm not as dumb as you."

"Gee, thanks."

"But, if you should know." Maki gave a soft laugh. "I'll stay away, but I'll still look at her cute face any time I want, and that's something you can't avoid."

"Wanna bet?" Kira grinned.

Back in the table, Cliff and Ysa were staring off to the dance floor.

"How romantic…" Ysa sighed. "Having two people fight over a dance…"

_What's wrong with this woman?_ Cliff thought in his mind.

"I'm back…" Rumi waved at them, when she finally struggled her way through the dance floor and to the middle, where the two men were conversing.

"Yes you are, cutie." Maki gave her a soft smile, which made her cheeks flare back to red.

"Let's dance, Rumi." Kira held out his hand to her. Rumi seemed confused for a while, but took it anyway.

When Rumi wasn't looking, Kira made an "L" sign to his partner. Out on the dance floor with nobody? What a loser.

Maki replied with a smug look, and made a signal that he was still spying at Rumi with his eyes, something that Kira had no control over.

"Kira, what was the busi--- Ah!" Rumi gasped as Kira suddenly nudged the back of her head with his palm, forcing the side of her face to be snugly leaning on his chest. "Kira?"

Kira stuck his tongue out as his partner, who chuckled in amusement. If there was one thing Kira was, that was stubborn and determined. If he wanted something, he'd fight for it, and he wanted this dance.

Maki made a gesture and waved at them, and started scouting for another girl he could dance with.

"What were you saying?" Kira asked, as he unconsciously started humming along to the music.

Rumi shivered, not really understanding why he wanted her to lean on his chest. Not that she was complaining, she had already decided before that he was warm. "What was the business?"

"None of yours."

She paused for a while, not really knowing what to reply. Finally, she said softly, "…alright."

He chuckled, playing with her hair gently. "Sorry… I just can't tell you."

"Did you kill someone?" She asked bluntly.

Kira paused for a while, and unconsciously tightened his grip around her. Killing was something he didn't choose to do, but it was his life now. The last thing he wanted was to get Rumi, or anyone else, involved.

"You smell like vanilla, Rumi." He chuckled.

"Excuse me?" Rumi replied with embarrassment.

Kira gave another chuckle in reply.

**To be continued…**


	5. Payon

Gahh, here I go agaaain. It's been almost half a year since I last updated.

Well, anyway… I hope you like it.

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_**Chronicles of an Acolyte**_

_**Chapter five - Payon**_

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_Well, here I am again. Hey, guess what? I'm actually getting better at healing! I went around Alberta the other day trying to help out as much as I can. I didn't really ask for anything, but they all gave me random stuff, like apples, bananas and… and… resin._

_Okay, so I just gave the resin away. I don't really need it. My mom gave me enough money for the trip, anyway. I also do feel a bit embarrassed because Kira gave bought me this muffler which had a card in it. It's so embarrassing! I hate it when people give me things… he said it was nothing, so I accepted it anyway. Even Ysa gave me earrings, two of them. She said they have some kind of spell that should help my healing. _

_Anyway, we're walking to Payon right now. We stayed a night in Alberta, though. This morning, Ysa bid us farewell. So right now, all I'm with is Kira and Cliff (who by the way, is the most arrogant jerk on the planet. Oh, did I already mention that before?)_

_Hey, I think we're nearing Payon!_

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"Well, here we are." Cliff mumbled under his breath, burying his hands into his pockets uncomfortably. Why was here again?

"Where are your friends, Rumi?" Kira asked the acolyte.

Rumi shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Cliff gave an exasperated sigh. "Can I go ahead? Let's just meet up somewhere later, alright?"

"Meet at the inn before dark." Kira stated, but Cliff wasn't really paying attention. The thief had already walked off. Kira shook his head—the thief was so hard to handle sometimes.

Kira walked off, with Rumi following behind him. They walked around the town square where natives were selling Payon delicacies and various other equipments.

"Kira…"

The assassin blinked and looked at Rumi, who had a sympathetic expression.

"I apologize for dragging you here…"

"What are you talking about?" Kira chuckled. "I like it here."

"But… Cliff…" Rumi started. "He seems so angry."

"You shouldn't worry about it." The assassin said, smiling. He ruffled the top of hair playfully. "He's just too stubborn to admit that he's having fun."

Rumi nodded, but she didn't really look that satisfied with Kira's answer. Kira was about to say more when somebody called Rumi's name out.

"Rumi?" A familiar voice asked. "Hey, I didn't know you were coming today. And you're now an acolyte!"

The acolyte and her companion both faced the direction of the voice to find a knight who was trying to figure out who Kira was. In his hands were bags of groceries. The knight was tall and had flaring golden hair that was mixed with brown. It was unusual, but he and his sister, Mint, were the children of a Pronteran Knight and a Payonese hunter. Payonese natives usually had brown hair, so it was an unusual mix of brown and gold.

"Chent!" Rumi said excitingly. She ran up to the knight and hugged his arm, while the knight protested that his bags might fall. Kira watched with question as the two people acted so casually towards each other.

"Who's this?" Chent asked, referring to Kira. "I don't think I've seen him before."

"This is Kira!" Rumi stated. "Chent, meet Kira, and vice-versa. Kira helped me get here to Payon, along with another friend!"

Chent looked Kira up and down, and Kira stared back at him in an expression Rumi couldn't understand.

"Rumi, is he an assassin?"

Rumi gaped. As usual, since they were out in the open, Kira wasn't wearing his uniform. Still, not a lot of people really wore their uniforms, so it was queer that Chent would predict what Kira was. Rumi opened her mouth to answer, but Kira spoke up first.

"So what if I am? It's not like I harmed her." Kira said bluntly.

"I didn't say that." Chent replied quickly.

Rumi waved her hands, not really understanding why the two seemed so heated towards each other. They had just met each other, after all.

"Mint's staying at our grandmother's." Chent told Rumi. "Her house is in the east part of the village. You won't miss it, it's the one with the red roof."

Rumi nodded thanks, and Chent continued.

"How about you? Where are you staying?" He asked Kira.

"At the inn, probably." Was the reply from Kira.

"Actually," Rumi cut in their conversation. "I'm staying there too."

Chent looked shocked. "What? Just you two? No, you're staying with us."

Rumi tilted her head with confusion. What was wrong if it was just the two of them? And why was Kira blushing? "It's not just the two of us. Kira's friend is with us, we're meeting him at the inn later."

"_Him…?_ Odin, Rumi, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"Okay, that does it." Kira snapped at Chent. "Rumi's perfectly safe with me, so stop it with the discrimination 'coz I'm not some dirty old man, alright?"

Chent's nose crinkled with discomfort.

"Whaaat?" Rumi scratched the back of her head. "Can someone please explain to me what's going on?"

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Cliff was no doubt pissed at his certain situation. He was threatened to take Rumi to Payon, but halfway through the way, Kira had already come. Why then was he still here? He sighed, though. He wasn't in the position to complain, since he owed Kira a lot.

The thief looked at the river that was flowing through the south entrance of the town. There was a hut, which he sat on, and he had to admit, the view was very nice.

"I don't think I know you." A voice of a girl said. Cliff arched his head and saw an archer who looked at him with curiosity. She had long gold hair and a sharp face, and she looked just about as old as he did.

"That's because you don't." Cliff replied bluntly.

"Is this the first time you've seen something like this?"

The thief raised his eyebrows at her. He couldn't understand why some stranger was interrogating him.

"Yeah. I'm from Morroc." He replied. Oh well, there was no harm in being nice to some random stranger once in a while.

"Cool!" The archer smiled. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Cliff."

"I'm Mint."

The thief nodded.

"You know what's great about strangers?" Mint asked, sitting down beside him with a huge grin on her face. She didn't even wait for him to reply. "It's that you won't see each other a second time, so it's easy to just let everything out. What's your problem, Cliff?"

Cliff sighed. She was right; maybe it was nice to just talk to some random stranger once in a while.

"I've been dragged to go along with two people, and I don't see the point."

Mint looked at him, interested. "Really? Who are these two people?"

"Some guy whom I owe my life to, and this girl he's got a crush on."

"Oh."

Silence.

"What's your problem?" Cliff asked her.

"Nothing." Mint replied. "I just got a message from my friend's mother that my friend is arriving here today. I didn't tell my brother, though. You know, it bothers me that he's so obsessed with her… I think he likes her even more than he likes me. It hurts, you know."

Cliff shrugged, not really knowing what to reply.

"Sorry." Mint said quickly. The thief just shrugged again.

Silence.

"What would you do… if…" Mint whispered softly. "There's this someone who's so important to you, but she just gets all the attention, and everybody likes her so much."

Cliff blinked. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing…" Mint continued. "It's just that… she's so clumsy, and she's so stupid at times. She's always acting without thinking, yet I'm pretty sure even my own mother likes her more."

"So…?"

"How do you get people to notice you…" Mint sighed. "Without even trying?"

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"Ruuumi!" The voice of an old lady rang as she hugged the petite acolyte. Rumi hugged her back with a painful look in her face. Chent and Mint's grandmother hugged very tightly. They had met before when their grandmother had visited Izlude, and she had absolutely adored the young girl. Rumi continued to introduce Kira to her.

It was already getting late, and it had been dark for some time now. Rumi knew that Cliff would probably be furious now, waiting at the inn. Even Kira seemed to be getting impatient, but he didn't say anything. He seemed to be upset about something since he met Chent.

Rumi thanked Mint's grandmother and said she had to go, because someone was waiting for them. They would talk in the morning, they agreed, and catch up on each other. The old lady entered the dining room the prepare dinner, and Rumi looked around, confused. Where was Mint?

"Rumi, take care, alright?" Chent said to the young girl. Rumi blinked and nodded at Chent, wondering why he was so thoughtful all of a sudden.

The young acolyte looked even more confused when the knight suddenly hugged her tightly. She fidgeted a bit, and hugged him back uncomfortably.

"S-sure…?" She said.

Chent let go and stared at Kira, who was silently standing from them a few meters away, hands buried in pockets depressingly. "If anything happens to Rumi, I swear—"

"I've been with her for some time now." Kira seethed. "If you see anything unhealthy about her, be my guest and point it out."

Rumi stared at the floor. She wanted to tell them to stop exchanging mean words, but she still didn't understand why they were so angry at each other.

Chent gave a final goodnight and told Rumi that he would tell Mint they were there. He almost wondered why Mint didn't know, since Rumi's mother usually sent out messages about stuff like these.

Kira started walking towards the inn in a fast pace, and Rumi had to run to keep up with his fast strides.

"Kira!" The young acolyte called out. "Kira…!"

The two of them walked in the night in this manner. People were already getting ready to return to their homes, and lights were already illuminating the streets instead of the sun.

They finally reached the inn, to find two familiar faces there.

"Mint… Cliff…" Rumi said, surprised. "You know each other?"

The archer and thief gaped at Rumi, then at each other.

"You're… with Rumi…?" Mint asked, shocked.

Cliff nodded. "Then… you…"

"Oh, Odin." Mint slapped her forehead with her hand. Rumi stood there, confused as ever.

"What's going on?" Rumi asked.

"Why didn't you tell me you were with Rumi?" Mint demanded of the thief.

Cliff backed away, insulted by the question. He looked at the furious face of the archer, not knowing why this was his fault.

"I so screwed up." Mint mumbled. Without even greeting Rumi, she walked away with a huff.

"M-mint…?" Rumi whispered with worry. "Cliff, what happened?"

"Nothing!" Cliff snapped, and he entered the inn, banging the door behind him.

"It's nice to see everyone's in a good mood." Kira said with obvious sarcasm, and he walked away, passing tables of drunkards. Rumi stood there, not knowing what to do. She was so confused. Chent was acting all worried, Kira was being unusually quiet, Mint seemed to be in a bad mood, and Cliff was… well, Cliff was Cliff.

With a sniff, Rumi headed of to the direction Kira had gone of to. She passed the drunkards, who tried to harass her, but she didn't pay attention to them. It took her a while, but she finally found Kira sitting on the grass beside the river.

Rumi hesitated, then she knelt down beside him, surprising him a bit. He didn't say anything, though.

"Kira… what's going on?"

"It's nothing."

It was the kind of "it's nothing" when it was "something". The kind of answer someone who was upset gave,

"Is this all my fault? I'm sorry." Rumi hugged her knees. Kira looked at her, confused.

"Of course it's not your fault."

"Kira…" Rumi started. "Please don't be angry with Chent. He's really very protective."

"It's alright." Kira smiled at her, ruffling her hair with his hand. She gave a yelp of helplessness and looked up at him with messy hair.

"You know…" Rumi smiled at him, trying to hold back tears that she couldn't understand why they were there. "Ever since I was small… or maybe even when I was still in mom's stomach, I've always hurt people around me without meaning to."

Kira stared at her. "I don't think that's true…"

"Mint…" Rumi fiddled with her fingers. "Once told me that she wished she didn't know me… b-because her family likes me more, which isn't true. We were… s-still very young then, and she said she was just kidding. She thinks I forgot about that already, but I still remember it perfectly…"

"Rumi?"

The acolyte buried her face in her knees, tears pouring out. She wanted them to stop. "Mint is always angry at me, yet she's still so nice. I don't think I can live without her… it would probably be easier for her and for everybody else if I were gone, because I'm so useless. Still… Kira…"

Kira looked at her sobbing figure and winced. He had no experience with crying women.

"Kira… I don't want to lose Mint… is it so bad that I keep forcing myself to be friends with her?"

The assassin put his hand on the top of her trembling head. "I think anyone would be lucky to be your friend."

Rumi wiped her tears on her sleeve and looked up at him. Her lower lip was trembling. "Kira, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break down, especially since you're in a bad mood. I'm so sorry, I'm always such a burden to people."

Kira shook his head and pinched her cheeks affectionately. "Rumi, hey."

"Hm?"

"Listen up, because I'm never repeating this again." He said. Kira pulled her close and wrapped his hands around her shoulders. She gasped lightly as her face was forced to be buried in his warm chest.

"I'm listening…" She said, her voice muffled against his shirt. Rumi felt him shiver and thought it was from the cold, but he actually shivered because her breath tickled him.

"You're actually very special." He whispered to her ear. "It's so difficult to find someone like you, because people like you are so rare."

"T-there's nothing special about me."

"Sure there is. Your ability to make people smile."

Rumi blinked. What?

He hugged her tighter and chuckled. "And the reason people seem upset is 'coz they're afraid they'd lose you."

Rumi blinked again. Why would Mint shun her for a reason like that? It just didn't make sense.

Of course, she didn't know that Kira was only speaking for himself in that last statement.

"Kira…"

"Hm."

"Thank you."

_**To Be Continued**_


End file.
